Provenance
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
Private collection, acquired from the above in 1968
Catalogue Essay
Tom Wesselmann’s sensual body of work appeals to our pleasure principles, particularly through his seductive portrayal of the modern female form. Though at times cartoonish, the subject matter of his art provokes the viewer with its lively color and erotic energy. Study for Marilyn’s Mouth, 1967, embraces sexual iconography of popular culture, with Marilyn Monroe as the ultimate embodiment. Not the only Pop Artist interested in Monroe as a sex symbol, Wesselmann evinces a fascination with her lascivious beauty and her Hollywood celebrity status.

Study for Marilyn’s Mouth, 1967, is part of Wesselmann’s larger Mouth series (1965), and signals a narrowing in Wesselmann’s compositional focus to a more daring, single figure. Wesselmann used this same detail in simultaneously developing his Smoker Study, a series of works that would become one of the most recurrent themes in the 1970s. Both series revel in the provocative nature of oral fascination. However, in Study for Marilyn’s Mouth, 1967, Marilyn Monroe’s platinum blond tresses splay across the lusciously full, heart-shaped lips, distinguishing it in its voluptuousness.

Wesselmann’s representational paintings and collages are deeply rooted in art historical subject matter, including still lifes, interiors, and nudes. Wesselmann’s reverence of Henri Matisse is apparent in the similarities between Study for Marilyn’s Mouth, 1967, and Matisse’s own love affair with color in his fauvist masterpieces. Much like Matisse’s greatest works, Study for Marilyn’s Mouth, 1967, focuses on human form, and uses Matisse’s unique cutout method and vibrant coloring on a white background to create a dramatic, light-filled effect.
Artist Biography
Tom Wesselmann
American • 1931 - 2004
As a former cartoonist and leading figure of the Pop Art movement, Tom Wesselmann spent many years of his life repurposing popular imagery to produce small to large-scale works that burst with color. Active at a time when artists were moving away from the realism of figurative painting and growing increasingly interested in abstraction, Wesselmann opted for an antithetical approach: He took elements of city life that were both sensual and practical and represented them in a way that mirrored Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol's own methodologies.
Wesselmann considered pop culture objects as exclusively visual elements and incorporated them in his works as pure containers of bold color. This color palette became the foundation for his now-iconic suggestive figurative canvases, often depicting reclining nudes or women's lips balancing a cigarette.
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41

Tom Wesselmann

Study for Marilyn’s Mouth

1967
graphite and oil on canvas
12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm)
Signed, titled and dated “STUDY FOR MARILYN’S MOUTH, Wesselmann 67” on the stretcher.

Estimate
$300,000 - 400,000

Sold for $290,500

Contemporary Art Part I

7 November 2011
New York

1
Maurizio Cattelan
Untitled
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $362,500
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2
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Crimson Red and Canary Yellow Butterfly 798)
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $458,500
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3
Urs Fischer
?
Estimate $900,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,082,500
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4
Christopher Wool
Untitled (P 177)
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $2,210,500
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5
Christopher Wool
Untitled (P 63)
Estimate $700,000 - 900,000
Sold for $842,500
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6
Christopher Wool
Untitled (P 71)
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,370,500
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7
Ugo Rondinone
DRITTERJUNIZWEITAUSENDUNDNEUN (3. June 2009)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $182,500
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8
Andy Warhol
Nine Gold Marilyns (Reversal Series)
Estimate $7,000,000 - 10,000,000
Sold for $7,922,500
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9
Sherrie Levine
Skull
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
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10
Damien Hirst
Disintegration - The Crown of Life
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,426,500
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11
Jeff Koons
Cape Codder Troll
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $578,500
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12
Damien Hirst
Au-195m
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
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13
Ed Ruscha
Romance
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $1,538,500
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14
Richard Prince
Untitled (Cowboy)
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $578,500
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15
Maurizio Cattelan
Frank and Jamie
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,322,500
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16
Roy Lichtenstein
Forms in Space
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $1,538,500
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17
Cindy Sherman
Untitled (#88)
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,314,500
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18
Richard Prince
Runaway Nurse
Estimate $5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for $6,802,500
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19
Andy Warhol
Knives
Estimate $3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for $3,442,500
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20
Cy Twombly
Untitled
Estimate $8,000,000 - 12,000,000
Sold for $9,042,500
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21
Andy Warhol
Self-Portrait
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,002,500
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22
Yves Klein
Untitled Coral Sculpture, (SE 288)
Estimate $650,000 - 750,000
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23
Willem de Kooning
Untitled XVIII
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $3,442,500
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24
Andy Warhol
Jackie
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,314,500
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25
Alexander Calder
Trepied
Estimate $5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for $5,682,500
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26
Ellsworth Kelly
Green Black
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,210,500
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27
Donald Judd
Untitled (Lippincott)
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $842,500
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28
Richard Serra
Palms
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $2,322,500
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29
This lot is no longer available.
30
Philip Guston
Path III
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
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31
Joan Mitchell
Untitled
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
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32
Sam Francis
Blue Balls I
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,594,500
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33
Anish Kapoor
Untitled
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,314,500
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34
Andy Warhol
Dollar Sign
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
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35
Damien Hirst
20 Pills
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,202,500
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36
Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol
Untitled
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,650,500
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37
Jeff Koons
Bikini (Jungle)
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $578,500
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38
George Condo
Large Reclining Smoker
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $458,500
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39
Anselm Kiefer
TBC (dies florum et palmorum)
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $422,500
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40
Richard Artschwager
Porch
Estimate $180,000 - 250,000
Sold for $182,500
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41
Tom Wesselmann
Study for Marilyn’s Mouth
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $290,500
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42
George Condo
Composite Figure No. 1
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $230,500
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43
Urs Fischer
Not My House, Not My Fire
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
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44
Sterling Ruby
SP40
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $326,500
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45
Jacob Kassay
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $206,500
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Contemporary Art Part I

7 November 2011 New York

Create your first list.

Provenance

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Tom Wesselmann

41

Tom Wesselmann

Study for Marilyn’s Mouth

Contemporary Art Part I

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7 November 2011
New York